Soda blamed for Alaska's tooth shortage

Published 5:30 am, Sunday, April 22, 2001

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- People living in rural Alaska communities are increasingly becoming obese and diabetic or they've got a mouthful of rotten teeth.

Health officials say soda is to blame and the only way to curb the health problems is to "Stop the Pop."

"You have 32 teeth maximum in your mouth, 28 until you get your wisdom teeth," said Dr. Rowena Mandanas, a Nome, Alaska, dentist with the U.S. Public Health Service. "I've been to villages where kids have 19 cavities."

Mandanas works with schools in the Nome area to distribute toothbrushes and toothpaste to students and to make sure the students are using them. There's a lot of tooth decay in her area because many people don't brush their teeth, she said. Drinking soda means even more problems.

The Alaska Native Medical Center's dental department and the state's "Stop the Pop" campaign surveyed a few hundred people about soda consumption. The study is still in progress, but preliminary data shows that more than half the Alaska Natives who were surveyed drink at least one can of pop a day. One-fifth of them drink at least two cans.

Patty Ferman, a dietitian with the Bristol Bay Area Health Corp., regularly visits schools in the Dillingham area and asks how much soda the students drink every day. "Quite a few of them drink six or more," she said.

The Native health organizations are attacking soda on a number of fronts. The Native health consortium voted to reduce pop consumption on the medical campus by 50 percent.

Why are Alaska Natives drinking more pop? Health officials considered some possibilities. In some villages, water is hard to come by. Residents who don't live near a water source melt snow or ice or rely on imported water, said Cynthia Navarrette, president and chief executive officer of the Native Health Board. Perhaps it's more convenient for them to visit the local store and buy a can of soda, she said.

Increased rates of obesity can also lead to a rise in diabetes, medical professionals say. There is evidence diabetes was rare 30 years ago among the Eskimo population, said Dr. Julian Naylor, a diabetes consultant.

"Twenty-five years later, we are faced in Alaska with a tidal wave of diabetes," she said.